When I crossed over from Webelos my Scout Master was an unmarried middle age man with no kids. He'd been involved with Scouting his entire life and was a fantastic leader - he still is.

Eventually he actually married the mother of one of the boys in the troop, but none the less I wouldn't be surprised if "gay rumors" had popped up about him at some point. His devotion to the program has been awesome though.

That's why I said the decision should be at the troop level - he was well known in the district before becoming Scout Master and his dedication was known. He wasn't some unknown creep. Even if he was gay it would've been an extreme disservice to everyone that has gone though that troop in the last 17 years or so to not have him as a leader.

columbia wrote:You're a dude and you want to coach middle school girls basketball? Sorry, but I probably think you're a creeper....Go away.

What if you have a daughter on the team? Or two?

Thats where it gets fuzzy for me

This is the same question I would have. My daughter's middle school teams are coached by volunteers. She played volleyball and they needed a coach. I would have done it had my schedule been conducive (and may do it next year), but it ended up being another player's dad who volunteered.

I get where you're coming from completely. It's just really sad that our first instinct is to now question people who volunteer to help out.

I have no problem with a man coaching women's sports. I have no problem with women coaching men's sports, but the only thing with that is a woman would have a very hard time having the respect of the locker room/team.

Shyster wrote:The standard libertarian position would be that private organizations like the Boy Scouts should be perfectly able to choose who they wish to admit as members, on whatever basis they choose. Thus, they could choose to refuse membership to any group for any reason or no reason at all. Of course, libertarians would also say that the Boy Scouts should not receive any government sponsorship or money, as it’s not the job of the government to fund or support private organizations.

I agree with this completely. Cut off all ties, direct or indirect, from government at all levels. Then and only then should they be allowed to discriminate.

mac5155 wrote:There should never be a time where discrimination is accepted but i see where you guys are coming from.

Well, I only said what I did because I know there isn't a chance in hell of the BSA having to give up its government connections. The people of this fine country have a nice, warm fuzzy feeling towards bigots they approve of.

mac5155 wrote:There should never be a time where discrimination is accepted but i see where you guys are coming from.

There is a difference between something that is legal and something that is accepted. I do not believe the government should enforce antidiscrimination laws against private entities (government entities are another matter entirely). In the past, I know that people in the PDT have reacted to that proposition with what I would say comes close to horror. Yes, it means that a white business owner could refuse to serve black customers. But that doesn’t mean that such behavior should or would be accepted by members of society. For example, I would not do business with a company that refused to serve African –American customers, even though I believe the company would have the right to run its business that way. If a company want to commit social and financial suicide by operating in a bigoted way, that’s up to the owner(s). But at the same time, it’s up to individual persons operating under their own moral codes and senses of right and wrong to choose whether to deal with that business. It’s not the government’s job to make private persons play nice.

columbia wrote:You're a dude and you want to coach middle school girls basketball? Sorry, but I probably think you're a creeper....Go away.

What if you have a daughter on the team? Or two?

Thats where it gets fuzzy for me

This is the same question I would have. My daughter's middle school teams are coached by volunteers. She played volleyball and they needed a coach. I would have done it had my schedule been conducive (and may do it next year), but it ended up being another player's dad who volunteered.

I get where you're coming from completely. It's just really sad that our first instinct is to now question people who volunteer to help out.

I don't think thats strange at all. If its not a parent of one of the kids...or at least a parent of a kid that goes to the school its completely reasonable to be suspicious of them.